Machine for continuous spinning by means of spinning rotors

ABSTRACT

The spinning units of an open-end spinning machine have housings which can be swivelled away from the spinning rotors and which contain means for supplying and disintegrating fibrous material which are swivelled along with the housing. The supply means are driven by a drive shaft extending through the spinning machine longitudinally, whereby the drive shaft has a gear for each spinning unit with which a driven gear of the supply means meshes. The swivel axles of the housings are arranged adjacent to the drive shaft and parallel thereto, so that when the housing is swivelled away, the driven gears are lifted off the driving gears of the drive shaft.

United States Patent 1 91 1111 3,927,516 Stahlecker Dec. 23, 1975 1MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS SPINNING 3,760,577 9/1973 Kihara et a1. 57/58.89x

BY MEANS OF SPINNING ROTORS 3,774,382 11/1973 Battling 57/58.89 X3,802,176 4/1974 Stahlccker 57/5895 X [75] Inventor Fmz stahlecker, BadUberkmgefl, 3,807,157 4/1974 Stahlecker 57/58.89 Germany 3,810,3525/1974 Miyazaki et a1. 57/5895 X [731 Assignees: Fritz Stahlecker; HansStahlecker,

both of G r Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Filed: Mar. 1974 Attorney,Agent, or FzrmCra1g & Antonelh [21] Appl. N0.: 453,500 57 ABSTRACT Thespinning units of an open-end spinning machine [30] Foreign Apphcat'onPriority Data have housings which can be swivelled away from the Mar.22, 1973 Germany 2314229 pinning rotors and which contain means f pp y gand disintegrating fibrous material which are swivelled [52] US. Cl.257/5839; 57/102 along with the housing, The supply means are driv n [51]Int. Cl. D01H 1/12 b a d i h ft extending through the spinning ma- [58]Field of Search ..,...e...57/58.89-58.95, 102, 103 chine longitudinally,whereby the drive h ft has a gear for each spinning unit with which adriven gear of [56] References Cited I I the supply means meshes. Theswivel axles of the UNITED STATES PATENTS housings are arranged adjacentto the drive shaft and 3,511,045 5/1970 Bures et a1 57/5891 Parallelthereto, 50 that when the housing is swivelled 3,667,205 6/1972 Brazdaet a1 away, the driven gears are lifted off the driving gears 3,685,2708/1972 Bartling 57/5895 of the drive shaft. 3,760,576 9/1973 LeChatelier et a1 57/58.89 X

T4 Claims, Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet10f3 3,927,516

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US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,927,516

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US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 3 of 3 3,927,516

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MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS SPINNING BY i 'MEANS OF SPINNING ROTORS Thepresent invention relates to a machine for continuous spinning oftextile fibres by means of spinning rotors and supply and disintegratingrollers associated thereto, having a stationary longitudinal shaft withgears for driving said supply organs as well as swivel mounted housingscontaining said supply and disinteg'rating'organs, having driven gearswhich are in engagement with the gears of said longitudinal shaft.

' It has been shown to be useful to design open-end spinningunit's insuch a manner that both the disintegrating and supply means arearrangedin' a separate housing which can be swivelled away from the spinningchamber containing the rotor. This provides the advantage of "goodaccessibility of all individual components, simplifying cleaning of theinternal drive means of the spinning unit. 'In particular, it ispossible to inspect and, if necessary, replace the rotor in a very easymanner with the unit open. The same also applies for the disintegratingmeans'In addition, there is the advantage that the swivel section, inwhich the supply and disintegratingmeans are arranged, forms a unitwhich can be easily exchanged and replaced.

Ina known design (German Laid Open Patent Application No. 1,535,005),the drive system of the supply means is relatively complicated. Sincethe supply roller is arranged in the swivel section, while the drive istaken from a'longitudinal shaft mounted in a stationary manner along themachine, it was deemed absolutely necessary for the longitudinal shaftto be arranged with the same axis as the swivel axle, as only then wouldthe gears and gears with helical teeth of the longitudinal shaft remainin engagement with the driven gears of the swivel section when thehousing is swivelled. For this reason, an angular drive system isemployed and the swivel housing is swivelled away about the axis of thestationary longitudinal shaft. In order to permit the housing to swivelaway, the longitudinal shaft is surrounded by a stationary tube whichserves as the swivel axle, on which the swivel members are mounted. Inorderto transmit the drive to the swivel housing, it is necessary toprovide this tube with an opening at every spinning point so that thegears of the longitudinal shaft can come into engagement with the drivengears of the swivel member. These openings represent a weakening of thetube.

With the known design, a relatively large distance must be selectedbetween bearings of the longitudinal shaft, as there is, for allpractical purposes, no possibility for mounting the longitudinal shaftin bearings withinthe tube, unless aver'y large tube diameter were to beselected. Thus, in practical embodiments the distance between bearingsof the longitudinal shaft is greater than the length of the tube. Thesag of the longitudinal shaft is then relatively great, whichnecessitates, in turn, large diameters for the longitudinal shaft andthe tube.

In addition, the neighbouring bearings of two sections of shaft betweenwhich a coupling is located are very close. to one another. This shortdistance between bearings at the connecting points necessitates a highlyaccurate ,bearing arrangement and a very precise shaft coupling, whichis quite hard. Very minor alignment defects can result in damage tocoupling and bearing in this case.

Since the gears are not readily accessible within the swivel tube, theknown design is difficult to maintain. Extensive fitting work isrequired to remove a gear. The necessary openings in the tube, arrangedat the locations of the pairs of gears, make little difference.

It is the object of the present invention to design a machine of thetype mentioned at the outset in such a manner that simple installation,removal and maintenance are possible, without losing the advantage ofbeing able to swivel the housing or increasing the constructionalexpenses and effort.

According to the present invention, the longitudinal shaft, the swivelaxle arranged parallel thereto, as well as the driven gear are arrangedone to the other in such a manner that the driven gear is brought intoengagement tangential or almost tangential to and with the gear of saidlongitudinal shaft in a circular path.

As a result of this measure, the longitudinal shaft is freelyaccessible, as it is arranged without being covered in any way by atube, which especially simplifies maintenance and fitting work. Thedistance between bearings of the longitudinal shaft can now be selectedas small as desired, so that its sag remains minor. The distance betweenbearings between two sections of shaft to be coupled longitudinally can,on the other hand, be kept larger than previously, so that a softercoupling is possible, permitting any alignment defects to be compensatedmore easily.

When swivelling away, especially when the housing containing the feedmeans is fully swivelled away, the driven gear of the supply means comesout of engagement with the gear of the longitudinal shaft. When theswivel housing is closed, the teeth of both gears come into fullengagement again, whereby the teeth cannot be overstrained as a resultof the arrangement of the position of swivel axle and longitudinal shaftrelative one to the other according to the invention, even when closedvery slowly. When swivelled into engagement, the upper section of thegear rim of the driven gear comes into a contacting relationship withthe teeth of the driving gear first. With the spinning unit completelyclosed, on the other hand, the teeth of the driven gear, viewed axially,are subject to greater strain in the center. In other words, this meansthat that section of the perimeter of the driven gear which must seekthe mating teeth when swivelled into engagement is no longer inengagement with the driving gear of the longitudinal shaft when thespinning unit is closed, while the center section thereof handles thetransmission of power. During continuous operation, i.e. with thespinning unit closed, the driving gear acts on a zone of the driven gearwhich is not subjected to strain during the swivelling operation, thusresulting in gentle engagement.

The operation of swivelling into engagement can be designed especiallyadvantageously if the longitudinal shaft between swivel axle and drivengear is located in the immediate vicinity of the swivel axle. The closerswivel axle and longitudinal shaft are arranged, the softer the gearswivels into engagement, as in this case a greater distance must betravelled between commencement of the swivel motion and completeengagement than when swivel axle and longitudinal shaft are located farapart. However a greater distance means a longer swivel time, and thusmore gentle swivelling into engagement. With any desired location of theindividual axles one to another, the swivel operation would have to belimited by a stop in order to prevent further motion beyond the positionof the teeth for the operating condition, which couldotherwise result intooth breakage. If, however, the longitudinal shaft is located betweenswivel axle and driven gear, there is no need for a stop, as the drivengear would come out of engagement again if swivelled too far, makingtooth breakage impossible.

It can be practical to match the pitch circle of the driven gear to theswivel radius across the tooth width for reasons of safety. Thisobviates the need for a stop to secure against tooth breakage.

According to the present invention, reengagement of the teeth can besimplified by means of a special development of the driven gear, inwhich the outer area of its tooth width has a shape which deviates fromthe profile which is in engagement during the operating condition. It ispreferable for the driven gear to have a larger tip circle diameter onone side, so that in this section the teeth taper to a point. This aidsthe gentle engagement of the teeth.

In a further development of the invention, the driven gear which is tobe swivelled into engagement has an elastic perimeter zone. Thisperimeter zone can be of an elastic plastic. Damage to the driven gearwhen swivelling into engagement is reliably avoided because of theexisting elasticity. The elastic portion of this driven gear ispreferably designed as an interchangeable ring, either with or withoutteeth. In an advantageous manner, it is possible for example to designthe upper circumference, facing away from the driven gear, of this ringwithout teeth and tapering outwardly, so that as it swivels intoengagement, there is first the effect of a friction drive. When it firstcontacts the gear of the longitudinal shaft, the exchangeable ring firstcauses the driven gear to rotate through friction, whereby it is easy tosee that the driven gear which has been caused to rotate can now easilyengage in the teeth of the gear.

The above discussed and other objects, features and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the followingdescription thereof, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which FIG. 1 shows a section through the machine accordingto the invention, with closed swivel housing;

FIG. 2 shows a section through the same machine with open swivelhousing;

FIG. 3 shows the driven gear swivelling into engagement with the gear ofthe main drive shaft;

FIG. 4 shows a tooth of the driven gear with larger tip circle diameterat the point of engagement;

FIG. 5 shows a tooth of a driven gear designed in two sections axially,whereby the engaging section has a larger tip circle diameter;

FIG. 6 shows a driven gear with a tapered ring without teeth attachedaxially thereto;

FIG. 7 shows the engagement phase of the embodiment according to FIG. 6in smaller scale;

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment in which the driven gear is arranged betweenswivel axle and drive shaft;

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment similar to FIG. 8.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designatelike parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 shows the machine,generally comprising a stationary section which includes, as thesupporting elements, the spinning chamber housing 1, the drive housing 2and a bearing housing 3, and a swivel section which includes the swivelhousing 4 and its cover 5.

Arranged in the supporting elements of the stationary section are,generally, the spinning rotor 6, the rotor drive 7, a longitudinal shaft8 for driving the supply members, as well as the swivel axle 9, arrangedparallel thereto, for the swivel housing. All other operating elementshave been left away for reasons of clarity. For the same reason, nodescription will be made of the spinning method, as those skilled in theart are familiar with this operation.

The major operating elements of the swivel housing 4 are a supply roller10, a disintegrating roller 11, extraction means 12 and a driven shaft15. The supply and disintegrating functions will also not be described,as, on the one hand, those skilled in the art are also familiar withthem and, on the other, they do not belong to the subject matter of theinvention. The supply roller 10 is driven from the longitudinal shaft 8by means of a gear 13 arranged thereon, a driven gear 14, which arepreferably gears with helical teeth of less than 45, and a driven shaft15 by means of a second pair of gears with helical teeth l6, 17. Theindicated example describes only one supply roller 10 with its drivemeans. In actual practice, however, the plurality of spinning points,and thus a plurality of supply rollers, are provided one next to theother in the longitudinal extension of the machine.

In order to prevent the drive means of supplying roller 10 from comingout of engagement when driven gear 14 swivels with housing 4 whenhousing 4 is swivelled away about the swivel axle 9, it previouslyappeared necessary to design swivel axle 9 as a tube and to arrangelongitudinal shaft 8 therewithin. As a result of the spatial separationof swivel axle 9 and longitudinal shaft 8 according to the invention,the gear and the driven gear 13, 14 come out of engagement when housing4 is swivelled away (FIG. 2), as gear 13 is arranged on shaft 8, mountedin bearing housing 3, while driven gear 14 is arranged on driven shaft15, mounted in swivel housing 4, causing it to be taken along during theswivel motion.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, driven shaft 15, and thus theaxis of driven gear 14, is arranged in such a manner that it describes aright angle with the radial plane of swivel axle 9. The operatingposition calls for longitudinal shaft 8 to also be located on the radialplane, so that in operating position the teeth of driven gear 14 extendtangential to gear 13 of longitudinal shaft 8. This provides theadvantage that minor deviations from the operating position are possiblewithout the risk of damage. It is not necessary to provide a stoplimiting the maximum engagement of the teeth.

FIG. 3 shows schematically how driven gear 14 swivels into engagementwith gear 13 when driven shaft 15 is swivelled about swivel axle 9.Longitudinal shaft 8 and swivel axle 9, arranged parallel thereto, aremounted in a stationary manner. During the swivel motion, the center ofdriven gear 14 describes an arc Kl, whose center M is located in swivelaxle 9.

FIG. 3 further shows the circular path K2 of the distance travelled bythe pitch circle of the teeth of driven gear 14. It can be seen thatdriven gear 14 comes into engagement in a circular motion K2, wherebythe imaginary extension of the arc does not extend through the center oflongitudinal shaft 8, but almost tangential only through a perimeterzone. Thus, at the commencement of the swivel motion a different area ofthe teeth of driven gear 14 comes into contact with the teeth of drivinggear 13 of longitudinal shaft 8 than subsequently in the operatingcondition. Possible wear or damage in this area of driven gear 14 doesnot therefore result in disturbance of the operating condition.

FIG. 4 shows an advantageous development of driven gear 14, of whichonly one tooth is illustrated. On commencement of the renewed swivelmotion, area 14a of the tooth comes into engagement with gear 13 first;in the operating condition, on the other hand, area 14b of the tooth. Inorder to simplify swivelling into engagement, area 14a of the tooth isdesigned so as to taper outwardly to a point, which results in anincrease of the tip circle diameter by a minor amount of approximately 1mm (0.039 in). As shown in FIG. 5, these two areas of the teeth can alsobe designed as separate components (14a1, 14111). Instead of designing alarger tip circle diameter, a preferably tapered ring 14a2 (FIG. 6)without teeth can also be employed which, according to FIG. 7, firstcontacts the gear rim of gear 13 with its surface line m during theswivel motion about swivel axle 9, being caused to rotate together withdriven gear 14b2 as a result of friction. Driven gear 14b2 thus assumesthe speed of driving gear 13, permitting subsequent swivelling intoengagement to be performed more easily. The preferably elastic taperedring l4a2 is designed in such a manner that it is in a contactingrelationship with gear 13 only during the swivelling phase but not inthe operating condition.

In all these cases, it is practical for swivel axle 9 and longitudinalshaft 8 to be arranged as closely as possible one to the other and forlongitudinal shaft 8 to be located between swivel axle 9 and driven gear14 in the operating condition in order to permit swivel path K2 toextend in the desired manner according to FIG. 3.

The embodiments according to FIGS. 1 to 7 are especially well suited forcylindrical pairs of gears with helical or worm teeth.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show practical examples in which swivel axle 9 andlongitudinal shaft 8 are either not arranged in the immediate vicinityone to the other or in which longitudinal shaft 8 is not arrangedbetween swivel axle 9 and driven gear 14b3, 14b4. In this case, the arcof driven gear 14b3, 14124 is not uniform throughout the width of theteeth and its tip circle diameter is matched to the swivel radius forswivelling into engagement.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in the light of the above teachings. It should therefore beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practised otherwise than as specifically described.

Having thus fully disclosed our invention, what I claim is:

l. A spinning machine comprising:

at least one spinning unit, each of said spinning units includingspinning means, a drivable supply roller for assisting in supplyingfibrous material to said spinning means, and a swivel housing which ispivotable about a swivel axle and which carries said supply roller,

a longitudinal drive shaft extending adjacent said at least one spinningunit and including a driving gear for each of said at least one spinningunits, said drive shaft being spaced from the respective swivel axles ofsaid swivel housings,

and supply roller drive transmission means for transmitting rotationalmovement of said drive shaft to respective ones of said supply rollers,said transmission means including a driven gear carried by each of saidswivel housings which is selectively drivingly engageable with saiddriving gear in dependence on the position of the respective swivelhousmg.

2. The spinning machine according to claim 1, wherein said drive shaftextends parallel to each of the respective swivel axles.

3. The spinning machine according to claim 2, wherein each of therespective driven gears is positioned in a respective one of said swivelhousings such that it moves substantially tangentially to thecircumference of an associated driving gear upon movement of therespective swivel housing to a position which effects engagement of saidrespective driven and driving gears.

4. The spinning machine according to claim 1, in which the respectivedriven gears are disposed in between the drive shaft and the respectiveswivel axles when in an engaged position.

5. The spinning machine according to claim 2, wherein said transmissionmeans includes a shaft carried by said swivel housing, said shaftsupporting said driven gear at one end thereof and supporting a furthergear at the other end thereof, said further gear being in drivingengagement with said supply roller.

6. The spinning machine according to claim 1, wherein said spinningmeans includes a spinning rotor, and wherein said drive shaft extendsparallel to each of the respective swivel axles.

7. The spinning machine according to claim 1, in which said drive shaftis arranged immediately adjacent to the respective swivel axle of therespective swivel housing between said respective swivel axle and therespective driven gear carried by the respective swivel housing.

8. The spinning machine according to claim 1, in which the area of saiddriven gear which is in engagement with the driving gear of the driveshaft has, in the axial direction, a crown which is concentric to theswivel axle.

9. The spinning machine according to claim 7, in which the perimeterzone of the driven gear, which comes into engagement with the drivinggear of the drive shaft first as the swivel housing is closed, has aprofile which extends beyond that area engaging said driving gear of thedrive shaft during normal operation.

10. The spinning machine according to claim 9, in which the teeth ofsaid driven gear has a larger tip circle diameter in their perimeterzone and taper to a point.

11. The spinning machine according to claim 9, in which said driven gearhas an elastic perimeter zone which engages the driving gear of thedrive shaft first as the swivel housing is closed.

12. The spinning machine according to claim 11, in which said perimeterzone is attached as an interchangeable ring on said driven gear.

13. The spinning machine according to claim 12, in which said perimeterzone has a toothed profile.

14. The spinning machine according to claim 12, in which said ringenlarges conically away from its corresponding driven gear.

1. A spinning machine comprising: at least one spinning unit, each ofsaid spinning units including spinning means, a drivable supply rollerfor assisting in supplying fibrous material to said spinning means, anda swivel housing which is pivotable about a swivel axle and whichcarries said supply roller, a longitudinal drive shaft extendingadjacent said at least one spinning unit and including a driving gearfor each of said at least one spinning units, said drive shaft beingspaced from the respective swivel axles of said swivel housings, andsupply roller drive transmission means for transmitting rotationalmovement of said drive shaft to respective ones of said supply rollers,said transmission means including a driven gear carried by each of saidswivel housings which is selectively drivingly engageable with saiddriving gear in dependence on the position of the respective swivelhousing.
 2. The spinning machine according to claim 1, wherein saiddrive shaft extends parallel to each of the respective swivel axles. 3.The spinning machine according to claim 2, wherein each of therespective driven gears is positioned in a respective one of said swivelhousings such that it moves substantially tangentially to thecircumference of an associated driving gear upon movement of therespective swivel housing to a position which effects engagement of saidrespective driven and driving gears.
 4. The spinning machine accordingto claim 1, in which the respective driven gears are disposed in betweenthe drive shaft and the respective swivel axles when in an engagedposition.
 5. The spinning machine according to claim 2, wherein saidtransmission means incluDes a shaft carried by said swivel housing, saidshaft supporting said driven gear at one end thereof and supporting afurther gear at the other end thereof, said further gear being indriving engagement with said supply roller.
 6. The spinning machineaccording to claim 1, wherein said spinning means includes a spinningrotor, and wherein said drive shaft extends parallel to each of therespective swivel axles.
 7. The spinning machine according to claim 1,in which said drive shaft is arranged immediately adjacent to therespective swivel axle of the respective swivel housing between saidrespective swivel axle and the respective driven gear carried by therespective swivel housing.
 8. The spinning machine according to claim 1,in which the area of said driven gear which is in engagement with thedriving gear of the drive shaft has, in the axial direction, a crownwhich is concentric to the swivel axle.
 9. The spinning machineaccording to claim 7, in which the perimeter zone of the driven gear,which comes into engagement with the driving gear of the drive shaftfirst as the swivel housing is closed, has a profile which extendsbeyond that area engaging said driving gear of the drive shaft duringnormal operation.
 10. The spinning machine according to claim 9, inwhich the teeth of said driven gear has a larger tip circle diameter intheir perimeter zone and taper to a point.
 11. The spinning machineaccording to claim 9, in which said driven gear has an elastic perimeterzone which engages the driving gear of the drive shaft first as theswivel housing is closed.
 12. The spinning machine according to claim11, in which said perimeter zone is attached as an interchangeable ringon said driven gear.
 13. The spinning machine according to claim 12, inwhich said perimeter zone has a toothed profile.
 14. The spinningmachine according to claim 12, in which said ring enlarges conicallyaway from its corresponding driven gear.